A Forum for Orthodox Jewish thought on Halacha, Hashkafa, and the social issues of our time.

Thursday, August 02, 2012

The Siyum – Postscript and Poll

A quick review of the Chicago Daf Yomi Siyum. It began a bit
late but finished in a more or less timely fashion. Maariv was concluded about
about 10:15 PM CDT.

The dais included Chicago’s two premiere Z’Kenim. Rav Avrohom Chaim Levin, Rosh HaYeshiva of
Telshe did the ‘Hadran’ after reading the last lines of Talmud Shas Bavli. Rav
Gedalia Dov Schwartz, Av Bet Din of both the RCA and the CRC began the new cycle by reading the first Mishnah
in Brachos.

The rest of the dais included of Roshei Yeshiva and Roshei
Kollel of both the Lakewood variety and the Yeshiva University variety. It also included
various Shul rabbis and Kiruv professionals.

In addition to the speakers in Chicago we heard 2 of the
speakers from MetLife who were broadcast via a video feed: Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky and
the always riveting Rabbi Yissachar Frand. In
my view the highlight of the evening was a brief but inspiring video of the history of Daf Yomi from its
inception at the first Agudah convention until the present. Over all, The
Siyum was a job well done I thought. At least here in Chicago.

Except for Rabbis Kamenetsky and Frand, I have no clue how
the “Big One” at MetLife went. I would
therefore love to get some input from anyone who was there. Please feel free to
share your thoughts – pro or con about how the evening went there. Who sat on the main dais? Was Rav Hershel Shachter
there? Was there anyone from YU on the front Dais? Please let me know. How good
were the speakers? Did anyone stand out? How much of it was in Yiddish?

In that vein, I am doing a poll which is located at the top
right margin – just below my “Donate” button. I would greatly appreciate
your participation. Please click on the answer that best applies to you. You
may choose more than one answer. And if you are so inclined you can add an explanation
in the comments section of why you voted the way you did.

I will start things off with a comment by someone who expressed his
impression of the Siyum early this morning on the previous thread:

Just got home (@ 2am).The event was AWESOME! Tremendous
achdus. Much more "color" than the asifah. It really was a
cross-section of Am Yisrael. Rav Lau, former Chief Rabbi of Israel and current
Rav of Tel Aviv spoke to some of the loudest applause. So I think they did get
the mix right, despite R"H Schachter not speaking.

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About Me

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelor's Degree - majoring in Psychology.